Iraqi warplanes kill five Islamic State terrorists in Anbar

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) – Five Islamic State terrorists were killed Monday in an airstrike by the Iraqi Air Force in the western province of Anbar, a tribal commander was quoted as saying.

Speaking to the privately-owned Almaalomah news website, Qatari al-Obaidi, a senior leader of the Tribal Mobilization Forces in Anbar, said that Iraqi warplanes targeted an armored vehicle carrying IS terrorists in Wadi Hauran, west of Anbar province.

The airstrike completely destroyed the armored vehicle, killing five Islamic State terrorists inside, al-Obaidi added.

The operation was launched based on intelligence information, he noted.

Iraq declared the collapse of Islamic State’s territorial influence in November 2017 with the recapture of Rawa, a city on Anbar’s western borders with Syria, which was the group’s last bastion in Iraq.

IS declared a self-styled “caliphate” in a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014. A government campaign, backed by a U.S.-led international coalition and paramilitary forces, was launched in 2016 to retake IS-held regions, managing to retake all havens, most notably the city of Mosul, the group’s previously proclaimed capital.